Member Sign In

You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate but affiliated companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.

If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.

Profit slid roughly 43% year over year to $65 million in the reported quarter. The year-ago quarter’s profit was boosted by one-time benefits associated with the reorganization of the company's legal structure. Barring that benefit, earnings were $1.83 per share a year ago.

For full-year 2012, earnings came in at $8.75 per share, also topping the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $8.56.

Valmont, which is among the prominent steel-pipe and tube companies along with MRC Global Inc. (MRC - Analyst Report), Synalloy Corp. (SYNL - Snapshot Report) and Tenaris SA (TS - Snapshot Report), posted revenues of $815 million in the fourth quarter, up 8% year over year. It exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $792 million. Sales were driven by double-digit gains across the company’s Utility Support Structures and Irrigation segments.

For the full year, revenues jumped 14% year over year to $3,029.5 million, essentially in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

Segment Highlights

Revenues from the Utility Support Structures division soared 25% year over year to $252.6 million in the fourth quarter, driven by higher demand from utility companies in North America as they continue to upgrade transmission grid. International sales rose on higher export revenues from China.

Irrigation Segment sales jumped 13% year over year to $203.4 million as high crop pricing supported demand in North America. However, international revenues fell in the quarter.

The Engineered Infrastructure Products division logged sales of $229.1 million, up 4% year over year. Revenues from lighting and traffic products were flat in North America. European lighting and traffic structure sales fell due to a weak economy. Sales rose across all product lines in Asia-Pacific. Sales of wireless communication structures and components increased in North America while declining in China

Revenues from the Coatings segment dipped 7% to $83.2 million on lower demand in Australia. Sales were flat in North America as higher internal irrigation and utility demand was masked by lower custom demand.

Financial Position

Valmont exited 2012 with cash and cash equivalents of $414.1 million, up 14% year over year. Total long-term debt was stable year over year at $472.8 million.

Outlook

Moving ahead, Valmont expects continued strength in its utility business in 2013, manifested by healthy order backlogs. It also expects a strong first half in the Irrigation division.

Top Zacks Features

Is it Time to Sell?

One of the most important steps you can take today is to set up your portfolio tracker on Zacks.com. Once you do, you'll be notified of major events affecting your stocks and/or funds with daily email alerts.

Zacks Research is Reported On:

At the center of everything we do is a strong commitment to independent research and sharing its profitable discoveries with investors. This dedication to giving investors a trading advantage led to the creation of our proven Zacks Rank stock-rating system. Since 1986 it has nearly tripled the S&P 500 with an average gain of +26% per year. These returns cover a period from 1986-2011 and were examined and attested by Baker Tilly, an independent accounting firm.

Visit performance for information about the performance numbers displayed above.